We received word last week (and noticed on their website) that the Golden Age of Trucking Museum in Middlebury, Connecticut, is just a week from closing its doors permanently unless it can secure enough funding between now and then to remain open. As Hemmings Motor News readers will recall, I profiled the museum back in the October 2006 issue after spending some time there. It’s far from the largest auto museum I’ve been to, but it’s right up there in terms of dedication, similar to the Museum of Bus Transportation in Hershey, Pennsylvania. After all, where else would you see a Pierce-Arrow truck and a Fageol moving van under the same roof? I had space for only a couple photos in the pages of HMN, but I have space for plenty more here. Enjoy, and if you can help the museum out with a few bucks, I’m sure they’d appreciate it.

23 Responses to “Golden Age of Trucking Museum, RIP?”

Lovely! A Fageol Super Freighter, a Federal, and a Brass Era raceabout all on the same day. Thanks for showing the Golden Age pictures. Wish I could see it before it closes but there’s no way I could get up there. Sorry to see it go.

Hemmings sold off most of their collection when it was sold in the past ten years. What they have now is less than a third of what they had. They had what was at the main location plus another building down the road for storage. That is mostly empty of cars now. I live not far from them.

The Golden Age of Trucking is 12 miles from studio. A wonderful place to bring the family, scout troops and school day trips. This past winter I volunteered a hour or two a week. Each truck and classic car is museum on four wheels, history!. You have to see these mountains of steel in person, a photograph just does not cut it.

Why the State of Connecticut and Middlebury let this happen God only knows.

I left a phone message and two e-mails at the museum that I wanted to discuss helping save the museum but received no return calls. If someone from the museum is interested, check the voice and e-mails and give me a call.

This is bad. Wish i could go to see it one time. My dad and my uncle was truckers and they had a brand new1953 /750 Jimmy. They hauled explosive over the mountains from Kansas over the rockies to western states. My uncle had a 1951 White sleeper with I think with a 200 Cummings. I was around trucks in the early 50s in my youth. Really sorry to hear about this closing. So sad. They bring back good memories.

It would be a huge tragedy to see this museum close. It is a shame that there are not more of them. We need to preserve our history. Those who do not learn from the lessons of the past are destined to repeat the mistakes. How can we learn from the past if we allow museums to be closed?

While the vehicles are interesting and some unique, the overall museum layout is not designed very well and it is in a relatively rural location, which means to have to discover it and plan to go there versus pass by and stop in. While we can simply blame the economy, unfortunately this is a case of a museum that does not know how to be creative and promote itself in today’s market.

..LORD WHAT A SHAME…IF I HAD THE $$ IN A HEART BEAT I WOULD HELP…I DROVE A FEW OF THESE LONG AGO, I VE GOT OVER 2-1/2 MILLION MILES ACCIDENT FREE DRIVING A SEMI…IVE OWNED A DOZEN SEMI`S IN MY LIFE TIME…KIDS TODAY HAVE NO IDEA WHAT MANUEL STEERING OR HAMMER DOWN REALLY MEAN..THX HEMMINGS!..